Real Estate New York City

The Woolworth Building, New York City's Gothic-style "Cathedral of Commerce" that once was the world's tallest skyscraper, has been sold to a real estate developer for a reported $155 million. The 60-story tower with its spires and gargoyles was bought by the Witkoff Group. The sale is one more step by the Venator Group, formerly the Woolworth Corp., to shut down its five-and-dime operation and focus on its Foot Locker, Lady Foot Locker and Champs Sports stores.

The Woolworth Building, New York City's Gothic-style "Cathedral of Commerce" that once was the world's tallest skyscraper, has been sold to a real estate developer for a reported $155 million. The 60-story tower with its spires and gargoyles was bought by the Witkoff Group. The sale is one more step by the Venator Group, formerly the Woolworth Corp., to shut down its five-and-dime operation and focus on its Foot Locker, Lady Foot Locker and Champs Sports stores.

A 66-story Manhattan skyscraper owned by the ousted late Philippines President Ferdinand E. Marcos and his wife, Imelda, was sold at auction in Federal Court here today for $77,000,100--a price that just barely covered its mortgage and expenses. The price for 40 Wall Street was only $100 over the minimum price set by mortgage holder Citibank to get its investment and expenses back.

A 66-story Manhattan skyscraper owned by the ousted late Philippines President Ferdinand E. Marcos and his wife, Imelda, was sold at auction in Federal Court here today for $77,000,100--a price that just barely covered its mortgage and expenses. The price for 40 Wall Street was only $100 over the minimum price set by mortgage holder Citibank to get its investment and expenses back.

MERV GRIFFIN is headed for a 2:30 appointment with the crown prince of Manhattan real estate in New York City's Trump Tower. That's the glassy skyscraper at 5th Avenue and 56th Street, not to be confused with Trump Plaza over on 3rd, near Bloomingdales, or Trump Parc, the art nouveau condominium complex on Central Park South where $4 million buys a three-bedroom apartment.

Are two cable moguls about to square off again? The emergence of Comcast Corp. as a potential suitor for Time Warner Cable is the latest twist in the at-times tense relationship between Comcast CEO Brian Roberts and John Malone, whose Liberty Media has a 27% stake in Charter Communications, which is also pursuing Time Warner Cable. Roberts is now what Malone was for many years, head of the biggest cable company in the country. Comcast has over 21 million subscribers and also owns NBCUniversal, parent of NBC and several powerful cable channels including USA, Bravo, CNBC and MSNBC.

Spending by foreign investors on U.S. business enterprises dropped 22% to $30.5 billion in 1987, the first dip since 1983 in the rush by overseas investors to acquire American assets, the government said Tuesday. However, analysts said foreign investment was still high--nearly four times the 1983 level of $8.1 billion. And they cautioned that last year's total would likely be revised upward and that the difference between 1986 and 1987 may have been distorted by tax law changes.